Two Soldiers honored during quarterly APG retirement ceremony

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — The careers of two Soldiers were formally celebrated during the quarterly installation retirement ceremony April 24, 2023, at the APG Post Theater.

The honorees were Chief Warrant Officer 4 Quinton Scherer of the Network Cross-Functional Team and Sgt. 1st Class Reginald Ross, a senior religious affairs noncommissioned officer with the U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command. With their combined 40 years of military service, the Soldiers positively contributed to the installation and the Army.

The host was Maj. Gen. Jeth B. Rey, director of the N-CFT. He was assisted by Master Sgt. (promotable) Nathan Hunsaker, N-CFT. Chaplain Youg Joung, deputy garrison chaplain, provided the invocation.

Rey said the retirement ceremony is a time-honored military tradition. He praised the retirees for serving their countries with dignity and respect.

“The concept of service permeants the entire Army Family of Soldiers at the edge of the battlefield to the military and civilians who keep an Army moving forward,” Rey said.

In addition, the retirement ceremony pays tribute to Army families, Rey added. He led the audience in a round of applause to thank them for their service.

Rey, worked closely with Scherer and described him as an “original” because although his work is highly specialized, he can find a way to talk to you at a level you can understand, he said.

He said Scherer is a hard worker and traveled frequently to share his expertise and to represent N-CFT.

Rey said Ross plans to give back by serving as a mentor to at-risk youth. Rey noted Ross wants to help youth develop skills and create life goals that can help them pave the way to a lifetime of success.

Rey concluded his speech by stating that Ross and Scherer embody the relaunched Army recruiting slogan, “Be All You Can Be.”

Chief Warrant Officer 4 Quinton Scherer 

Scherer received the Legion of Merit, DA certificates of appreciation and retirement, the U.S. flag and retiree pin.

“His leadership, superior performance and exemplary devotion to duty contributed immensely to the largest organizational change for the U.S. Army since 1973,” the Legion of Merit award states.

His wife, Alexis Scherer, received the DA Certificate of Appreciation.

Scherer officially retired with 23 years and 8 months of military service. He was born in Missouri and was commissioned as a warrant officer in 2008 after achieving the rank of staff sergeant while serving for more than eight years as an enlisted communications Soldier in the U.S. Army.

While enlisted, he received specialized training in tropospheric communications maintenance, multichannel transmissions systems and information technology. As an enlisted Soldier, he deployed for combat three times, twice for Operation Iraqi Freedom and once in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. As a warrant officer/technician, Scherer became a subject matter expert in a multitude of military communications specialties.

In 2018, Scherer helped standup the N-CFT under the newly established Army Futures Command. He led development and oversight of the Joint Interoperability and Coalition Accessibility portfolio. Following this, he continued to serve as the senior technical advisor to the director and the chief integration officer of the Army Modernization Enterprise annual campaign of learning event, Project Convergence. In this role, he led the integration of demonstrated technologies to iterate a path towards informing requirements of the Army’s future network.

Scherer thanked his family and collages colleagues for their steadfast support.

“It has been an honor to lead and serve alongside remarkable men and women through deployments, combat and even contributing recently to the future of our Army,” he said.

Scherer said he is optimistic about his future.

“I am confident that the skills, knowledge and experiences I have gained in my military career will serve me well in whatever path I choose to pursue,” he said.

Sgt. 1st Class Reginald Ross 

Ross was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal for providing “exceptional compassionate, spiritual care and leadership provided to service members, civilians and their families.”

He also received the DA certificates of appreciation and retirement, the U.S. flag and retiree pin. His wife, Jessica Hope Ross, received the DA Certification of Appreciation.

Ross will officially retire on July 31, 2023, with 20 years and two months of military service.

Ross is a native of Winnsboro, Louisiana. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on April 30, 2008, after serving six years in the Air Force Reserves at Barksdale Air Force Base in Shreveport, Louisiana. He attended the Army Warrior Transition Course at White Sand Missile Range, in New Mexico. After completing the transition course, he attended the U.S. Army Chaplain Center and School Chaplain Assistant Advanced Individual Training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

Ross served in a variety of assignments and leadership positions to include the 917th Security Forces Squadron as a team leader and the 2nd Bomb Wing Installation Honor Guard Flight Sergeant at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana.

He served on two deployments supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn.

Ross, who described himself as “a man of few words,” said he wanted to show appreciation to his family and especially his wife for being supportive through multiple moves and long hours. He said his family plans to move to Florida and he looks forward to continuing to serve by mentoring youth.